Youngster Bell gets a call to join England Test squad

England have taken the first step towards the seemingly inevitable promotion of teenager Ian Bell into a Test player by flying him out to provide cover for injuries threatening their second Test preparations.

England have taken the first step towards the seemingly inevitable promotion of teenager Ian Bell into a Test player by flying him out to provide cover for injuries threatening their second Test preparations.

The Warwickshire batsman has long been considered future England material, excelling in nearly every age-group while he scored two centuries during his recent spell with the Academy in Adelaide this winter.

Last night he was fast-tracked on to the senior international stage after being chosen ahead of more experienced candidates to fly to New Zealand and provide cover for hand injuries to Mark Butcher and captain Nasser Hussain.

Left-hander Butcher has already ruled himself out of Thursday's second Test in Wellington after cracking a bone in his right hand attempting to take a catch at slip during the 98-run opening Test win over New Zealand in Christchurch, but is hopeful of recovering for the final match at Auckland on March 30.

Hussain, who jarred the middle finger of his right hand during yesterday's triumph, is less doubtful and is still expected to lead the side out at the Basin Reserve on Thursday.

Those two injuries forced the tourists to look at their back-up options with Usman Afzaal unlikely to be considered as a batting alternative as he is thought to be one of the players coach Duncan Fletcher was referring to when he revealed he was disappointed with the fitness levels of some members of his squad.

Instead they looked to youngster Bell, who has made just 13 first-class appearances for Warwickshire but showed enough promise at every other international progression to indicate he has the talent and composure to succeed.

"We are trying to move away from the old statement that you have got to play four years of county cricket before you can qualify for selection," said chairman of selectors David Graveney, who will fly out to Wellington with Bell and join the rest of the squad tomorrow.

"When he went with Mike Gatting on the Under-19 trip, Ian was regarded as one of the most outstanding players in his age group that they had seen in New Zealand.

"He's played there, he's played a certain amount of county cricket, and even if he doesn't play it will be a great learning curve for him.

"He's there to play and he could easily be playing on Thursday."

A more likely alternative would be the recall of all-rounder Craig White, who scored his maiden Test century just two matches ago in Ahmedabad but was overlooked at Lancaster Park to allow the selection of six batsmen. White could bat at number seven with fellow all-rounder Andrew Flintoff moving to number six after making the breakthrough at Test level with his maiden century on Friday.

Before Fletcher becomes involved in selection permutations, he will congratulate his young team on their outstanding display to weather Nathan Astle's incredible innings to secure a lead in the three-match series.

While Flintoff's 137, Graham Thorpe's maiden double century and Matthew Hoggard's career-best seven wicket haul earned the plaudits for contributing to England's success and Astle's breathtaking 222 made the cricket world sit up and take notice, it was the captain's first innings century which most impressed the coach.

Going into bat with England on nought for two, Hussain scored 106 with the next highest scorer on either side making only 42.

Fletcher said: "I think Nasser's was the key innings, it was a tremendous innings to score a hundred on a wicket that was doing far too much for a Test early on.

"To lead from the front by scoring a hundred was a top, top effort. He's been batting well for the last six or seven months and looks a lot more confident at the crease.

"The pressure of captaincy is probably not as great as it was, he's really into the job and he's confident in what he's doing."

Both Hussain and Fletcher are likely to be focusing on England's failure restrict Astle more during his innings, allowing him to dominate a 118-run last wicket partnership off only 65 balls which almost got one of the most incredible victories in Test history.